Dargo2

That might be a fair assessment of Johnson's overall impact in most of his films. It does seem his best work was done in film dramas where he's more a supporting player and a member of an ensemble cast of other exceptional actors, such as say in "Battleground", "Command Decision" or "The Caine Mutiny", doesn't it.

> To me it is folly to assume the more power granted to a director the better the outcome. Sometimes this was true and sometimes it wasn?t. Hmmmm...betcha anything the name "Michael Cimino" was goin' through your mind as you typed this, eh James?! (...'cause OOH WEE, I've watched the 'director's cut' of "Heaven's Gate", I gotta say if there EVER was a movie that contained scenes which went on WAY too long and that added absolutely NOTHIN' to the essence or story of a film, THAT was sure IT alright!!!) LOL

"It's really pretty easy, Senorita! Jus' take your cursor and click just to the right of where page-"1" is showin', 'cause even though ya can't see it, the number "2" is right there!" (...sorry Dothery...I just couldn't resist this!!!) LOL

Well first, FlyBack... >What I mean is TCM continues to put stuff on that no one wants to see and as such I lump Wallace Beery in with art house and silents. Seein' as how Beery was one of the biggest stars of early talkies, and was primarily popular with the "Working Class" audiences of his day, I don't see how his movies could ever be described as "Art House" fare. And secondly... >...nobody wants any of it! You suuuuuure like to talk usin' a whole lot o' definitive statements, doncha?! LOL

Wow dark! Your reply to browne was pretty darn impressive itself, and pretty much are my thoughts on this matter, also. You mentioned the PBS connect as to it often broadcasting "more complete" versions of classic films, and thus that would lead me to believe because of PBS's strong connection to British television and its film libraries and the fact that very often in the past many classic films were shortened for the American market and re-titled, that this connection would be the reason for this. In other words that PBS presents classic films from British-owned libraries and not American-owned libraries. As far as you know, would I be correct in my assumption here?

Btw finance, I gotta say whether the correct legal term was being used or not for this flick's title, didn't ya just love it when Van Johnson backhanded Steve Cochran upside the chops? I've probably said this before around here, but the more of Van Johnson's work I see, the more I think he was a much better dramatic actor then I ever gave him credit for being in years past.

>In the mid-50's, Olivia de Havilland and Dirk Bogarde starred in Libel which is set in England and a drama. Ahem...excuse me here, wouldbe, but are you sure the correct spelling of that Brit-made movie's title wasn't "Libeul"???? (...sorry)

Now whaddaya talkin' about here, Sepia??? Why, I'll have you know I've ALWAYS believed that William Bendix's portrayal of the life of The Bambino to be precise RIGHT down to the letter, NOT to mention how utterly factual Oliver Stone's expos? of what REALLY happened in Dallas that one fateful November day in '63!!! (...so what's your point here, HUH?!) LOL

Sorry Sepia, but I've never read those series of stories. So tell me, does Hemingway also cover Nick's years at the Toho studios outside of Tokyo or just his years as Johnny Yuma in that old TV Western series??? (...sorry, couldn't resist)

>Ideally, they should have disappeared into the musical ether BEFORE the big hit. Aah, but finance, where would we be without the Norman Greenbaums of the world??? Spiritually speaking that is! (...I'm talking about the One Hit Wonders of the world of course, NOT Dr. Norman Greenbaum D.D.S. who runs a thriving dental practice at his office along Santa Monica Blvd!!!) LOL

Beat ya by 1 minute here, Swithin! LOL

Oh! So you didn't mean like this, eh?... LOL

That would be Patty Petersen, younger sister and the spitting image of Paul Petersen, and who was ironically added to the Stone family of "The Donna Reed Show" after Shelley Fabares left the series, and as the..ahem..'adopted child'.

Sherry Jackson...who yeah, would grow to be quite the beauty...

>Didn't a young Hemingway kinda look like Peck? I'm not seein' it at all... But I always thought a middle-aged Hemingway reminded me of actor William Conrad.

(...and now going from the somewhat sublime to the somewhat ridiculous...) Green http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxm19NBAcfc

(...and goin' back a fur piece...) Purple

Sounds like a great home theater setup there, Gorch. All I own is a lobby card of "It's a Wonderful Life" which my wife's sister gave me as a Christmas present probably 20 years ago now, and depicting Christmas Eve in the Bailey's kitchen with Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed and Larry Simms(son Pete) and just before George goes into nightmare mode and meets Clarence. It is autographed by both Stewart and Reed, and both signatures seem legitimate. (...I often wonder what would be its present market value, even though I'll probably never sell it)

>Dargo, not so much the visual look of Macomber Affair as much as Joan Bennett's character made me also think of film noir. Her character could very well be out of that genre. Poor Robert Preston, a noir victim. Yeah, good point about Bennett being the noir femme fatale. I suppose there were subtle suggestions in that opening scene that we would soon discover she would fit that profile, huh. (...yep, maybe that was more it)

>PS That's why we have "Deer Crossing " warning signs on the highways .... (not that they help any when they do dash out. ) Now THAT reminds me of THIS!!! ...and Part-2... (..OMG, I STILL crack up BIG TIME whenever I think of this!)

>And sadly, perhaps because of his distressed state or in spite of it, Hemingway chose to kill himself just that way, perhaps life creating art and then imitating it. And you may recall in the little remembered "Bambi II: Revenge of the Cervidae", this very scene WAS left in(unfortunately garnering it an "R" rating for violence) and then showing much rejoicing among the local woodland creatures after word spread among them that there would now be one less "real manly" hunter stalking them! (...and of course that "R" rating killing ANY chance of getting the family audience the Disney people has hoped to entice, and thus the very reason for this film now being "little remembered")

>Well, I'm sure the deer's a tad rattled, as well. I can just image him getting back to the doe and fawns, and telling them how he just saw another one of those freakin' dumb guys on a motorcycle again. LOL Ya know, I think I've heard that that very scene came THIS close to bein' in the final cut of "Bambi"!!! (...and I think Walt had his boys draw the motorcycle as a 1936 Harley Knucklehead before it was left on the cutting room floor...hmmmm, or was it '39 Indian Chief?...no, DEFINITELY a Harley, THAT'S right!)

Yep, true, BUT I gotta say what with the runaway deer population we now have in the States and I'm gonna assume up your way too, I DO have to say I DO really appreciate every one of those traffic endangering varmints that all those fat beer-bellied out-of-shade camo-wearing "sportsmen" with their 30.06's bag while acting like "real men"! AND, most of 'em ARE "fat beer-bellied and out-of-shape", ya know!!! LOL (...'cause there's NOTHIN' scarier than ridin' over a twisty mountain road on your motorcycle and suddenly havin' one of those freakin' dumb deer jump RIGHT OUT in front of ya and outta nowhere, ya know!)

And pretty much how I felt about this film, also. Ya just have to accept the idea that "real men" back then(with "compensation issues" evidently, 'cause remember, this was YEARS before the advent of Viagra...LOL) acted this way, and then just go along with its premise.

>It's still an excellent film noir, however... While I know you're talkin' about "The Killers" here Tom, what's kinda funny here is that the opening 10 minutes of "The Macomber Affair" tonight also gave me the feeling of a Noir film until it turned into an outdoor adventure/drama film. Maybe it was the dark toned cinematography of that opening segment, but did you get a little feeling of this also?